This year’s Northern Ontario Business Awards honoured Twiggs Coffee Company with its First Nations Business Award of Excellence. Each year owner Jennifer Twigg offers students from Canadore College and from the Nipissing First Nation schools placements at her North Bay location so they can earn job experience.

In recognition of Michigan’s diverse communities and businesses, Corp! Magazine has handed out awards in 3 categories: Diversity Champions (13), Diversity Focused Businesses (11) and Diversity Business Leaders (32), including this month’s POV columnist Steven L. Robbins. For a complete list of winners, go to www.corpmagazine.com.

The Oregon Zoo's Urban Nature Overnight (UNO) and Zoo Animal Presenters (ZAP) programs have received the Excellence in Diversity award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for its "significant achievement in workforce and audience diversity.” The 2 programs are designed to foster and appreciate of nature and wildlife in underserved, ethnically diverse populations. 

This year’s recipients of National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) diversity awards are KeyCorp (Diversity Initiative Achievement Award) and Joel Stern, legal services director, Accenture, (Award for Outstanding Service by a Council Member). The awards will be presented this month at NAMWOLF’s annual meeting and law firm expo.

Tony Gladney, vice president of corporate diversity for Harrah’s Entertainment, has received the Community Service Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans plus the Golden Hand Service Award from the Cultural Diversity Foundation. The awards are given to individuals who demonstrate outstanding service to the community.

The U.S. Department of Labor has presented its 2008 Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) Award to CDW Corporation, a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education. The EVE award is given each year to federal contractors that value a diverse work environment and have innovative programs around persons with disabilities and family/work-life balance.

The Minority Economic Development Institute Inc. in South Carolina presented Clemson University and the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) with its Corporate Suppliers Minority Business Award for leadership in employment of minority- and women-owned businesses. 

For the second year in a row, the Corporate Star Award from the Forum of Executive Women (FOEW) has been given to Kenexa, a global provider of talent management and retention solutions. The award recognizes companies in the greater Philadelphia region whose corporate boards are composed of at least 25% women.

Chrysler LLC has been recognized as Corporation of the Year and Minority Business Advocate of the Year for its support of minority suppliers by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council (MMBDC). As well, Chrysler’s Corporate Controller and Auditor Kim Harris Jones received the Women of Color Professional Achievement in Industry Award from Women of Color Magazine in recognition as a role model and leader for others.

The only blind marching band in the US will make history when it marches in the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2010 in Pasadena, California. The band, made up of 17 members from the Ohio State School for the Blind, will use sighted marching assistants during the parade.